“At that period, brethren,
there will arise in the world an Exalted One named
Maitreya, Fully
Awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with
knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals
willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a
Buddha, even as I am now. He, by himself, will thoroughly know
and see, as it were face to face, this universe, with Its worlds
of the spirits, Its Brahmas and Its Maras, and Its world of
recluses and Brahmins, of princes and peoples, even as I now, by
myself, thoroughly know and see them” (Digha Nikaya, 26).

This prophecy by Guatama
Buddha is very ambiguous, that is to say, it has very few details
that allow us to probe into it and extract details that predict when
Maitreya
will come. But there
are a few Buddhist prophecies that are more specific to the time
when the Maitreya
will arise:

“After my decease, first
will occur the five disappearances. And what are the five disappearances? The disappearance of attainments [to Nirvana], the
disappearance of the method [inability to practice wisdom,
insight and the four purities of moral habit], the disappearance
of learning [loss of men who follow the Dharma], the
disappearance of the symbols [the outward forms, the robes and
practices of Buddhism], the disappearance of the relics...”

“Then when the Dispensation of the perfect Buddha is 5,000 years
old, the relics, not receiving reverence and honor will go to
places where they can receive them... This, Sariputta, is called
the disappearance of relics” (The Surangama Sutra).

The above passage clearly
predicts, as so many other religions of the world have, that when
society degrades and God (and His religion) are thought of as second
to intellectualism, then the Savior will appear.
Likewise, in the Bible, we find the confusion that
must take place before the coming of the Messiah, and in THOTH
we find an explanation for it:

“‘Behold, he cometh with
clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced
him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so. Amen.’ (Rev. 1:7). ‘Cloud’ means confusion.
He comes whenever confusion comes to humanity.
‘When righteousness is weak and faints and
unrighteousness exults in pride [confusion], then my Soul arises
on earth’ (Bhagavad-Gita 4:7).
‘Every eye shall see him,’ means
that those who have their eyes opened (third eyes) will see him.
‘They also which pierced him’
means that those who pierced him will also see his glory.
When it is said that he will come from the sky, the sky
means the same as heaven, and heaven means Pure Consciousness.
So he comes from Pure Consciousness, or he comes as an
Avatar (god-man)” (THOTH, Revelation Of The Revelation, T1, V21-24).

We can see that the same
conditions are given in all religions. Each religion gives only a slightly different account of the
times before the coming of the Messiah, and each religion likewise
gives only a slightly different description of how the Messiah will
come. Nevertheless, with all the promises of moral degradation and
societal deterioration and likewise with all the promises of a
coming Messiah, it must be realized that all the religions of the
world, in their own manner, are predicting the same event.
This is to say that the titles
Mahdi,
Christ,
Krishna,
Shah-Bahram,
Kalki,
Maitreya,
Muhammad, and the like, are interchangeable
just as the prophecies that herald each of their appearances are
likewise. The world, in
all its niches and groups, are awaiting the same thing, that they
all await Maitreya.

One of the most
significant of these prophecies of the world, are the ones that give
dates or times by which we may recognize when the Messiah will
arise.
The prophecy given by Buddha gives a near to exact date of
when the Maitreya
will come. The clue that helps us to understand when the Maitreya
will be manifested is:

“ . . . when the
Dispensation of the perfect Buddha is 5000 years old.”

Buddha, who was sent to India,
spoke to a Hindu audience, in terminology that they could relate to
and understand.
Considering that Buddha was speaking to followers of Hinduism, He
was speaking in terms of the Hindu system of dating.

Hinduism is expecting the
appearance of the Kalki Avatar, shortly after the beginning of the
Krita age and the end of the Kali age.
The exact date of when the Kali age ends and the Krita age begins is
unknown.
However, it has been estimated that the Kali age ended at
noon on the first of August 1943 A.D.
Assuming then that this date is correct, the Buddhist equivalent
year (which pertains to the Dispensation of the perfect Buddha
lasting 5,000 years) would be approximately the year 2,486 in the
Buddhist era.

“If, Ananda, women had not
retired from the household life to the houseless one, under the
doctrine and discipline announced by the Tathagata, Dharma
Ananda would long endure; a thousand years would the good Dharma
abide. But since, Ananda, women have now retired from the household
life to the houseless one, under the doctrine and the discipline
announced by the Tathagata, not long Ananda, will Dharma endure;
but five hundred years
Ananda, until the Dharma abide”
(Vinya Pitaka II. 253 ff).

Buddha had previously promised
that the Dharma would last for 5,000 years, which if broken down is
really five periods of one thousand years, each period representing
one of the five disappearances.
After the fifth period, that is five thousand years, the
Dharma would disappear and the true message of Buddha would be lost.

However, Buddha contests
that because He has allowed women to participate in the fullness of
Buddhist life, He would halve the time until the Dharma's expiration
from five periods of one-thousand years (5,000 years), to five
periods of five-hundred years (2,500 years).

According to Buddha, and
explanation above, the Dharma would disappear 2,500 years after His
Dispensation began (1957 A.D.), and shortly after the five
disappearances, the Maitreya would come.

This interpretation of
Scripture is supported by a number of ancient Chinese's Buddhist
commentaries, here is one such example:

"The monks and stream
attainers (followers) will be strong in their union with Dharma
for 500 years after the Blessed One's Parinirvana.
In the second 500 years they will be strong in
meditation; in the third period of 500 years they will be strong
in erudition.
In the fourth 500 years period they will only be occupied
with gift giving. The final or fifth period of 500 years will see only fighting
and reproving among the monks and followers.
The pure Dharma will then become invisible (disappear)" (Abhidharmakosha,
4.12c. III. p. 41).

From these two examples we may
conclude that Maitreya should arise sometime around 1957 A.D.
However, are there any other clues for the date of the Maitreya?
Yes, and we will review one more before we reach our
conclusion:

“I have another prophecy,
also, Tibetan: It is predicted that the manifestation of Maitreya shall come after the wars...” (Maitreya Lord of
the World, by Dr. M. Doreal).

Here is the conclusion that we
have reached: (1) The Maitreya would have to arise sometime
after the Kali age and at the beginning of the Krita age, which
would be sometime after August 1st, 1943.
(2) Around 2,500 years after the beginning of the
Dispensation of the Buddha, the Maitreya
would arise. This would
be around 1957 A.D. (3)
The Maitreya
would come after the great wars, in an age that was beginning to
prosper and rebuild.
With these three points we can reach our final conclusion that is:
Maitreya will arise between the year 1943 A.D. and 1957 A.D.

[Note: The date of 1957 is based on dating 2,500
years from 544 B.C., one of the possible dates given for Buddha's
death (beginning of Buddha's Dispensation, the "Buddhist era").
Another possible date to begin this count is 483 B.C. In this
case, adding 2,500 years leads us to the date 2017. The
overall meaning is the same - we should expect Maitreya
to come at this time in history - but the date of 2017 is especially
interesting as it is the date Maitreya chose as the
end of the 12,000 years of history of present man and beginning of
the Golden Age! For more information, see the Newsbrief
article Buddhism
and the Year 2017.]

More Hints About Who The
Maitreya Will Be:

“The Lord replied,
'Maitreya, the best of men, will then leave the Tushita heavens,
and go for his last rebirth.
As soon as he is born he will walk seven steps forward, and
where he puts down his feet a jewel or a lotus will spring up.
He will raise his eyes to the ten directions, and will
speak these words:
'This is my last birth.
There will be no rebirth after this one.
Never will I come back here, but, all pure, I shall win
Nirvana.” (Buddhist Scriptures by Edward Conze)

Buddha
tells us several key things about Maitreya and Maitreya’s
Message.
The first of these is that Maitreya will leave “the
Tushita heavens.” That
is to say that Maitreya
comes from heaven to earth.
The same thing was said about Christ in the Bible.

The
words, “and go for his last rebirth,” refers to this being Christ’s
final appearance on earth as Messiah that is recorded in all
Scriptures. He will
bring the Final Revelation of God to man (Revelation chapter
five).
He Opens the Book Sealed with the Seven Seals and Reveals the
Unity of all Religions.
So, what Buddha is saying is that Maitreya (Christ Spirit) is
the final appearance of the Buddha, as Kalki is the final Avatar of
Vishnu and the Seventh Angel,
Maitreya
is on earth.

When
He comes a jewel will arise which is His Teachings.
The second meaning is concerned with Maitreya's revelation of
the unfolding lotus petal, which is the base of the Mission’s sign.

And
finally, in regards to the words, “This is my last birth.
There will be no Great Revelation after this one.
Never will I come back here, but, all pure, I shall win
Nirvana,” simply confirms the statement in the Bible said
about the
Seventh Angel,

“But
in the days of the voice of the
seventh
angel… the mystery of God should be finished…(Rev 10:7).”